I hope we can make this a recurring feature – meeting our fellow bubbleinfo readers, and getting a glimpse of their neck of the woods!
Hi Jim,
We wanted to get a couple of photos to you with us wearing your real
nice shirts, we just love them, Thanks so much. The weather is turning
and we’re expecting snow tomorrow, 60 degrees today though. We took
these photos from the Highlands Ranch Backcountry. This is what makes
where we live so special. If we didn’t live here we’d like to live in
your area. As you know we find your home tours the best. Thanks for
your great videos Jim !
—
Liz and Mike
Highlands Ranch, CO
click twice for larger image:
About Highlands Ranch
Highlands Ranch was as part of the Louisiana Purchase and has been a
working ranch for over 100 years. The area south of Highlands Ranch is
8,200 acres of pristine wilderness area where there is an abundance of
wildlife. Homeowners in Highlands Ranch enjoy trails in the
Backcountry and many parks and bike trails along with four
recreational facilities.
Highlands Ranch residents enjoy:
• More than 2,000 acres of open space, 70 miles of paved and natural
trails, 16 local parks, three community parks, and one regional park.
• Four full-scale, state-of-the-art recreation centers, and two
18-hole golf courses.
• 19 elementary schools, four middle schools, and five high schools.
• High-quality medical care at several medical facilities throughout
the community.
• Numerous places of worship representing a variety of faiths.
• A variety of convenience and retail amenities.
• The HRCA has constructed seven miles of wildlife-sensitive,
natural-surface trails on portions of the 8,200-acre Backcountry
Wilderness Area.
• The community is home to nearly 1,000 businesses, employing more
than 6,800 people.
• Highlands Ranch is Colorado’s largest master-planned community with
22,000 acres in various stages of development.
• Highlands Ranch is ranked as one of the most progressive
master-planned communities in the country and lies just 12 miles south
of the Denver metro area in Douglas County.
• The community will reach completion near the year 2010 and will
encompass more than 90,000 residents, occupying 36,700 homes.
• The Backcountry Wilderness Area of Highlands Ranch is 8,200 acres of
open space managed by the Highlands Ranch Community Association.
Mike and Liz,
If these photos were taken in the afternoon then you are pointing north, judging by the shadows? Where is your house, and HR from where you are standing?
Did this happen:
• The community will reach completion near the year 2010 and will encompass more than 90,000 residents, occupying 36,700 homes.
(they are going to respond later)
Highlands Ranch is apparently another HOA nightmare community. If I recall, there was an episode of House Hunters on HGTV in which a couple had to sell their house in Highlands Ranch and buy another somewhere else because the husband lost his job and started a business that required a work truck with the business name painted on the side. The HOA went after them and they had to sell. No room for plumbers or roofers in that community!
Not exactly the place you would want to own rental property…
I grew up in Littleton right by County Line road. Highlands ranch was a huge expanse of nothingness before they built C470. The initial building period started in the early 90’s at the tail end of the S&L boom/scandal. 80%-90% of the buyers at that time were from California. I think a large percentage of buyers still comes from CA. So if you like to here you’ll feel pretty comfortable there.
The only problem if you consider it a problem with Denver is there’s a large number of houses available to buy. This pushes down prices. What would cost 600-800k in SD costs 300-400 in Denver.
Another Investor,
Do you mind?
These people, out of the kindness in their hearts, volunteer to be here – and the first thing you do is to dump on their community.
Isn’t there enough bad going on in the world that we can give it a rest on a Sunday morning?
Liz and Mike are two of my best friends. I say hooray for them wanting to boast about their community which if I do say so myself is BEAUTIFUL country! You two look great in your new shirts!
Joyce
Dayton Ohio
Hi Jim,
Thanks for posting us on your blog. These pictures are looking directly west and they were taken in the morning about 10am. We like to go up to Daniels Park to go hiking and to catch some peace and quiet. Our house is Northwest of these photos and about 10 minutes from here.
The community only has 2 areas for houses to be built and that will be it. The last development is going to be the best on the nicest part of HR. It backs to The Backcountry and the houses are some of the most expensive. Unfortunately the economy has slowed the progress, but they are still building. I think they will still be building custom homes their for the next couple of years.
I grew up next to Highlands Ranch (Lone Tree), and went to Highlands Ranch high school. The best comparison I can think of in California is Irvine, except without the campus. Lots of big arterial 6-lane roads, huge divisions of tract houses, and box stores/Starbucks/chain restaurants. Divide the price of a house in Irvine by 2 or 3 and you have Highlands Ranch.
When I lived there it was still cow fields, but the place is pretty full developed now. I haven’t seen the final phases of development, which are southeast of where my folks live.
As for their photos, they are probably facing Southwest/west. Mountains are to the West in Denver. Highlands Ranch would be to the North and Northeast.
As for Highlands Ranch being another “HOA nightmare community”, we like the covenants, we wish there were even more of them. Many of my neighbors keep their commercial vehicles in their garages. If you want to park your camper in front of your home Highlands Ranch is not the place for you.
Highlands Ranch prices are much lower than SD for many reasons, Not everyone can afford to live in the San Diego area, even though sometimes we wish we could live there, but were glad to be here in CO. As for home prices some areas of the Denver Metro are soft, but my neighborhood hasn’t had a home for sale in years and the prices are holding, so I think we are lucky.
Hey Joyce,
So nice of you to blog us on BubbleInfo. We’ll keep in touch and hope to see you soon.
Liz and Mike
Mike & Liz – We have a great SD client who is leaving SD/C’bad and moving to Fort Collins this summer. They really want to slow down the daily pace of living for their kids so. They looked at the entire Western US and picked Colorado/Denver hands down over the other alternatives.
Hello ClearFund,
Fort Collins has consistently rated as one of the best places to live in Colorado and the USA. If Boulder wasn’t so expensive that would be a great place to live too.
Liz & Mike
Hey robosigner,
I remember flying over Colorado and the west before moving here from Long Island 17 years ago. Each time I knew I was closer and closer to moving here. I have no regrets.
Mike in HR
Cool!
How did you guys find the site? I recall there was a comment from a guy in Norway or something. haha
There’s a lot of beautiful country around Denver. It’s one of the places that I really enjoy visiting. Now, if I just had more reasons to go to the Littleton office when the weather is nice…
One of the ways the world can be divided is between those who find the regulation of a well-run HOA comforting and those who find the same regulation overbearing.
Just to add Fort Collins or Greely provide access to 2 local universities, Colo State in Fort Collins and Northern Colorado in Greely. Since bother are within driving distance of each other its a good place for those who need to send kids to college, allowing them to live at home.
I grew up north of Denver and loved it. Next best thing to SoCal IMHO.
Beautiful pictures Liz and Mike. I grew up in unincorporated Arvada/Golden (BFE). The photos took me to nostalgia land when I saw them. The only time I go back seems to be for weddings and funerals, but this summer I’m taking my girlfriend for a tour of the front range.
Nothing quite like seeing the planes run straight into the mountains.
Pro tip: If you visit, eat at The Fort. Yum.
I think you may have hit on another marketing goldmine, Jim. Make this blog that tell stories about the people who benefit from and contribute to it, as well as about the housing data, and you’re going to end up with a small hardcore fan base of fanatics pushing clients in your direction. 😉 Hope 2011 is even better than 2010!
Ooh, snow. Good thing for the long sleeves.
I know that area and Backcountry at Highlands Ranch is really nice. My wife and I went there about 3 years ago when we were in Denver visiting friends. We may visit again when we are there in four weeks prior to heading to Breckenridge. The sundial house is now built as I understand it and we loved the homes. We werent as big on HR as much as Backcountry but still nice area. Love that they had rec centers for all areas. The open space at backcountry is an added feature, as are the views. We always said if there was one place we would move other than SD, its Denver. Thanks for sharing the spotlight JTR.
This has been allot of fun, I didn’t think that many people would comment. I just finished shoveling for the past hour. Denver got about 6″ of snow yesterday. Nice and sunny right now, but still cold around 20 degrees for a high today.
Jim, Thanks for promoting us, Highlands Ranch and Colorado on your blog.
We’ll be commenting on your videos on YouTube and BubbleInfo in the future.
Liz and Mike
Looks awesome out there!
I always wanted to visit the Denver area (and will). Although I live and work here in SD, I always preferred our almost untouched backcountry to the coastal areas.
When I first saw the photos that Mike and Liz posted before reading, I thought it was the Anza Borrego area after all the snow!
It’s nice to meet your readers, Jim. Thanks for sharing the photos and real estate info about your hometown, Mike and Liz. Although I’ve never been to Highlands Ranch, I have visited family in Colo. Springs and have always thought of your state as a beautiful place to live.